Riding the wave to success
A LOWER DOLLAR AND RISING PASSENGER NUMBERS ARE PUTTING A BIG SMILE ON THE FACE OF REEF CRUISE BOSS TONY BAKER, WHO SAYS GOOD TIMES ARE ON THE WAY BACK,
Having survived a slump in tourist numbers, Quicksilver Group’s Tony Baker is bullish about the years ahead.
THE skipper of a flagship Far North company is bullish about the years ahead.
Quicksilver Group managing director Tony Baker knows tourism inside out, having held key executive roles since his late 20s.
During 13 years in the Far North he has seen rise, fall and resurrection of the region’s economic mainstay.
Now, about six years after tourism confronted its “worst years”, the Quicksilver Group boss is eyeing off prolonged industry growth.
“There are a lot of things in place that all point to strong tourism numbers going forward,” Mr Baker said.
“The biggest benefit over the last few years has been the Australian dollar dropping back to below US80 – that is such a critical thing.”
The company, which formed in 1979, is certainly making hay.
Quicksilver Group recently lodged a development application to build a dive centre at Port Douglas.
The facility, flagged for the corner of Grant and Warner streets, would offer a purposebuilt pool, training space, offices and retail centre.
It comes after the company completed a $1 million overhaul of its Agincourt 3 reef platform, while in recent years Quicksilver Group has added Poseidon Dive and Snorkel Cruises and Ocean Spirit Cruises to its throng of vessels.
Mr Baker is no stranger to big business, having been in the driving seat of several Australian tourism heavyweights.
After graduating from Brisbane Grammar School, he went to university in the US before landing his first job as an assistant operations manager at Sea World on the Gold Coast.
That was in 1986, and just five years later he was appointed Sea World general manager at age 29.
In the role, which he held for a decade, Mr Baker would oversee up to 1000 staff members during peak season.
“I was thrust into the deep end but had lots of people giving me advice,” he said.
But in August 2001, Mr Baker lost his job as part of a major staffing shake-up.
For about 18 months he “honed his golf skills”, before applying for the role as Skyrail general manager.
For another 18 months he drove the iconic Far North business, before taking on a position with Daikyo as group general manger for Great Adventures and Green Island Resort.
QUICKSILVER GROUP HAS ADDED TO ITS FLEET OF VESSELS IN RECENT YEARS AND HAS NOW LODGED A DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION FOR A PORT DOUGLAS DIVE CENTRE
But Daikyo then sold its Australian assets to Quicksilver Group, for which he was named managing director in 2007.
Mr Baker soon was faced with some of the biggest challenges of his career.
“About two or three months later, Jetstar severely cut back its flights to Cairns from Japan, which was a significant hit for us,” he said.
“This was compounded by the Global Financial Crisis.
“We were lucky we were able to compress our business without making substantial or changes to our workforce.
“Our worst years for passengers were in 2009 and 2010, and we’ve had steady growth since then.
“We’re only now getting back to the customer levels we were seeing in ’04/’05.”
Quicksilver Group now employs more than 630 people and has 13 major vessels.
The company has welcomed more than 450,000 passengers during the past 12 months.
Mr Baker was buoyed by the resurgence in Japanese visitors and looked forward to continued growth in the Chinese market.
“After the issues with Japan in 2007, we went looking for additional markets and one we identified as having strong potential was China,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of potential in China.
“Direct flights to Cairns would be fantastic, particularly from a place like Shanghai.
“We’re seen as a very safe destination and have wonderful environmental assets.
“There are so many ticks in there that the future for tourism services looks pretty good.”
Mr Baker, who lives at Mooroobool, said he had no intention of going anywhere.
“I enjoy being involved in things where you can make a difference, whether it’s how the business is performing or for the people who are there,” he said.
THERE’S STILL A LOT OF POTENTIAL IN CHINA. DIRECT FLIGHTS TO CAIRNS WOULD BE FANTASTIC, PARTICULARLY FROM A PLACE LIKE SHANGHAI TONY BAKER